Archive for the ‘Tour of California’ Category

Twisted Spoke hopes Vincent Nibali doesn’t mind: we made him a dinner reservation at the best Italian restaurant in Nevada City, California for May 15th, the night before the opening stage of the Tour of California. A little bit of home, ya know?

Cirino’s, 7:30, table for two, bring a teammate. Dress casual, jeans are fine, no team wear, please. Foodie web site UrbanSpoon claims Cirino’s is top notch tasty. A good meal washed down with a bottle of the 2004 Franciscan cabernet should kick things off in style.

Nibali will lead team Liquigas at the Tour of California, which runs from May 16th – 23rd. The 25 year-old Italian should be on form after riding the Ardennes Classics and will use California as the homework for the 2010 Tour de France.

“It’s an important race for our bike sponsor, Cannondale,” said Nibali. “I will aim to win a stage and if there is chance I will try to win the overall.” And he’s not talking about the all-you-can-eat.

P.S. Vincent, start with the Cirino style calamari, then the shrimp risotto. Yummy.

Beer, bike racing and Trappist monks. Nothing weird about that. With Omloop Het Niuewsblad and Sunday’s Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne just days away, we raise a glass of Trappist beer in toast and hail the stellar efforts of Dutch brewing. After all, you gotta wash those frites down with something. Budweiser would just be bad form, like showing up […]

(Note: This is our third installment of Dutch Treats in celebration of the fast approaching race season in Belgium.) The responsibility for the current Dutch Bike craze falls squarely on the Dutch. The wonderful irony is, the entire cycling universe is in ecstasy but not the Dutch. Not their style to get worked up about […]

Gumby is back. Yes, he breaks but he always comes back strong. Veteran American rider Chris Horner showed everybody in the Tour of Sardinia he’s feeling few effects from his five major crashes last year. The bald headed rider from Bend, Oregon put on an impressive display in the queen stage, finishing 2nd to Roman Kreuziger […]

In our second installment of Dutch treats to celebrate the fast approaching Belgian racing season, we tackle the tantalizing subject of Belgian frites, the beloved Dutch snack. Bike racing and Belgian frites are so deeply intertwined in the culture that it’s fair to ask if one could survive without the other. There is no tour […]